One of the issues of the Atapuerca sites that generates the most scientific debate is the dating of the strata where the fossils are found.

Therefore, researchers at the Spanish National Research Centre for Human Evolution, among others, strive to settle the dates. A study published by the ‘Journal of Archaeological Science’ has clarified that the sediment of Gran Dolina, where the first remains of Homo antecessor were discovered in 1994, is 900,000 years old.